Top 10 wine brands

Last year’s top brand retained its leading position by some measure, however Concha y Toro’s growth easily outstripped all on the list.

Once again wines from the New World are dominating the top 10 brands, highlighting the importance of strong marketing to make and maintain a global brand.

Concha y Toro saw huge growth over the last 12 month, but it was still unable to take the top spot in this top 10.

Gallo also enjoyed growth, but otherwise it proved to be a tough year for some of the world’s big wine brands. Most saw a decrease in sales compared to the previous 12 months, as some of these brands reflect the trend of a global economic downturn.

There have been some movers in this top 10, but the leading players in the global wine market continue to dominate.

Take a look through this slideshow to see the top 10 wine brands.

10. Blossom Hill

Volume 2011: 5,017 900 9l cases
Volume 2010: 5,700,000 9l cases
Change 10-11: -13%
Brand owner: Diageo
Head office: Lakeside Drive, Park Royal, London NW10 7HQ, UK
Tel: +44 (0)20 8978 6000
Website: blossomhill.com
Brand director: Simon Lawson
PR: Mercieca +44 (0)20 7482 8592
Product range: Blossom Hill Soft and Fruity Red, Crisp and Fruity White, Blossom Hill Vineyard Collection, Blossom Hill Winemakers Reserve Pinot Grigio, Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, Chenin Blanc, Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Blossom Hill White Zinfandel and White Grenache

Blossom Hill has launched a £1.2m campaign “get things started with the taste of summer” to drive relevance and appeal of rosé to a wider audience, using the calendar of 2012 events to inspire consumption occasions.

Currently rosé is only drunk 4.5 times a year, with 23% of consumers not choosing rosé because they don’t know when to drink it. By giving rosé an occasion and linking to food, Blossom Hill hopes this can drive higher relevance to a wider wine drinking audience, as currently 24% of consumers would consider rosé as a wine for an aperitif or to enjoy with starters. Part of the promotion is a designer canapé plate competition where consumers buy a promotional bottle in store and enter by SMS to win cases of Blossom Hill or £250 cash.

9. Jacobs Creek

Volume 2011: 6,800,000 9l cases
Volume 2010: 7,065,000 9l cases
Change 10-11: -3.8%
Brand owner: Pernod Ricard
Head office: 12 Places des Etats-Unis, 75783 Paris cedex 16, France
Tel: +33 (0)141 00 41 00
Website: jacobscreek.com
Marketing director: Matthew Bird
PR: Weber Shandwick +44 (0)20 7067 0313
Product range: Classic range: Single varietals, Blends, 3 Vines, Reserves Range. Heritage range: Steingarten Riesling, Reeves Point Chardonnay, St Hugo Cabernet Sauvignon, Centenary Hill Shiraz. Icon: Johann, Shiraz Cabernet

Jacob’s Creek’s success over the past few years has been defined by a premium focused strategy. This has resulted in value growing faster than volume due to a focus on premium offerings across the portfolio. The Cool Harvest range was launched – wines that are crisp, light and delicate in style; offering fresh flavours achieved by harvesting the grapes in the cool of the night and using fruit sourced from premium cooler climate regions and only free-run juice. The contemporary range, perfect for summer, consists of Sauvignon Blanc, Shiraz Rosé and Vermentino. The company chooses to emphasise the “light and fresh” style of its new Cool Harvest range, instead of aligning itself directly with the lower alcohol wine sector.

Jacob’s Creek continues its sponsorship of the Australian Open and Wimbledon as part of its global association with tennis.

8. Lindemans 

Volume 2011: 7,000,000 9l cases
Volume 2010: 6,700,000 9l cases
Change 10-11: 4.5%
Brand owner: Treasury Wine Estates
Head office: Regal House, 70 London Road, Twickenham, Middlesex TW1 3QS, UK
Tel: +44 (0)20 8843 8411
Website: lindemans.com
Marketing director: Richard Trimby
PR (in-house): Sarah Bentley
Product range: Cawarra, Bin Series, Reserves

The Lindeman’s Bins series has set itself up as a quality Australian wine showing great value for money. But the winery’s luxury tier Trio also enjoyed success with Lindeman’s St George 2009 named in Matthew Jukes’ top 100 Australian wine list and the International Wine Challenge awarding Pyrus and Limestone Ridge 2010 awards.

In the UK, Lindeman’s has raised awareness and engaged with consumers via a wine and book platform, wineandbookclub.co.uk. Activation includes a Kindle giveaway competition in stores nationally, sponsorship of the Cheltenham Literary Festival and a partnership with Oxfam, with wine and book events taking place in specialist their bookshops across the UK.

7. Sutter Home 

Volume 2011: 7,800,000 9l cases
Volume 2010: 8,100,000 9l cases
Change 10-11: – 3.8%
Brand owner: Trinchero Family Estates
Head office: 100 St. Helena Highway St. Helena, CA, 94574 USA
Tel: +1 707 963 3104
Website: tfewines.com
Senior Director of Marketing: Wendy Nyberg
PR Director: Nora Feeley
Product range: Cabernet Sauvignon, Chardonnay, Chenin Blanc, Merlot, Moscato, Gewurztraminer, Pinot Grigio, Sweet Red, Sauvignon Blanc, White Merlot, White Zinfandel, Zinfandel, Pink Moscato, Bubbly Moscato, Bubbly Pink Moscato, Pinot Noir, Sweet White, Riesling

The history of Sutter Home Winery dates back to the late 1800s, when a Swiss-German immigrant established a small winery and distillery in the heart of the Napa Valley. After purchasing the company in 1948, the Trinchero Family has grown it to the current level. With its creation of White Zinfandel in the early 1970s and the introduction of high quality, affordably priced wines during the 1980s and ‘90s, Sutter Home became the second-largest, independent family run winery. Launches in 2011-12 included: Pink Moscato, Bubbly Moscato, Bubbly Pink Moscato, Sweet White and Pinot Noir.

The brand Sutter Home is claimed to be the USA’s number one wine brand in consumer brand loyalty and household penetration, with 11.6 million wine consumers.

6. Beringer 

Volume 2011: 8,000,000 9l cases
Volume 2010: 8,300,000 9l cases
Change 10-11: -3.75%
Brand owner: Treasury Wine Estates
Head office: Regal House, 70 London Road, Middlesex TW1 3QS, UK
Tel: +44 (0)20 8843 8411
Website: beringer.com
Marketing director: Tarja Tuunanen

PR (in-house): Caroline Stromfelt

Product range: California Collection, Classic Collection, Stone Cellars, Founders Estate, Appellation Collection, Private Reserve

Beringer enjoyed continued success in 2011, despite a slight drop in volume, as the business looked to expand beyond its core US market. In the US growth was led by Beringer Light & Refreshing (Moscatos) and Luxury tiers. In Europe the brand experienced a packaging refresh and the launch of Beringer Classics in the UK.

The brand activated industry-leading platforms, such as the PGA golf tour. At the top end there was continued critical acclaim for Beringer luxury wines. Score highlights include 2009 Knights Valley Cabernet Sauvignon and 2009 Private Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon.

Beringer Vineyards was founded in 1875 and is “the oldest continously operating winery in the Napa Valley.”

In 2001, the estate was placed on the National Register for Historic Places as a Historic District and was the first Californian winery to offer public tours in 1934.

5. Hardys 

Volume 2011: 9,200,000 9l cases
Volume 2010: 9,690,000 9l cases
Change 10-11: -5.3%
Brand owner: Accolade Wines
Head office: Reynell Road, Reynella SA, Australia
Tel: +61 (0)8 8392 2222
Website: accolade-wines.com
PR (UK): Fleet Street Communication +44 (0)20 7960 0228
Product range: Hardys Voyage, Hardys VR, Hardys Stamp of Australia, Hardys Nottage Hill, Hardys Crest, Hardys Oomoo, Hardys Chronicles, HRB, Sir James Sparkling, Eileen, Hardy, Thomas Hardy, William Hardy

In 2011 Hardys continued to raise its profile in the UK and other key markets with a mixture of above the line marketing, brand investment and key retailer support. In 2011 its sponsorship of the popular Channel 4 show Come Dine With Me continued. New adverts were launched for the beginning and end of episodes, and ad breaks. The brand, along with Echo Falls, has renewed its sponsorship for 2012. Investment in the brand also included a new label for Hardys Nottage Hill. The brand continued to support its customers’ commercial objectives, launching Hardys Bankside, a new exclusive for Morrison’s.

Hardys is also increasingly investing in key markets across Europe.

Hardy’s wine won an impressive six trophies, including the Australian Chardonnay trophy and the International Cabernet Sauvignon trophy, at the International Wine Challenge.

4. Robert Mondavi

Volume 2011: 9,791,487 9l cases
Volume 2010: 10,400,000 9l cases
Change 10-11: -6.2%
Brand owner: Constellation Brands
Head office: 7801 St. Helena Highway Oakville, CA, 94562 USA
Tel: +1 585 678 7100
Website: Robertmondaviwinery.com
Marketing manager: Liz Edwards
PR (in-house): Anne Siegel
Product range: Napa Valley Wines, Reserve Wines, District Wines, Spotlight Wines, Woodbridge wines

Robert Mondavi’s 99th birthday was marked around the world with a “live” happy hour toast over Facebook and Twitter. Woodbridge by Robert Mondavi announced another introduction to the range: Woodbridge Extra Dry Sparkling Wine. It is aimed at drinkers who enjoy a lightly sweet style of wine. Also added to the Woodbridge family was the California Brut Sparkling Wine. In 2011 the Kalon Vineyard was awarded “Vineyard of the Year” by the California Farm Bureau for its consistent and superior quality grape production each year.

The 450-acre To Kalon Vineyard lies against the hills on the Oakville bench.

The 43rd annual Robert Mondavi Winery summer concert series was held in June with rock band OAR opening the series.

The band The Plain White T’s presented the “Celebrating the Bounty of Napa and Local Sustainability” concert. The next night Natasha Bedingfield performed.

Meanwhile the maker of Robert Mondavi, Constellation Wines, earned US$72m in the first quarter, down from US$74.5m a year earlier.

3.Yellow Tail

Volume 2011: 10,705,994 9l cases
Volume 2010: 10,991,634 9l cases
Change 10-11: -2.7%
Brand owner: Casella Wines
Head office: Wakley Road, Yenda, NSW 2681 Australia
Tel: +61 2 6961 3000
Website: yellowtail.com
Marketing manager: Libby Nutt
PR: R&R Communications +44 (0)20 7384 1333
Product range: Yellow Tail, The Reserve, Limited release

Yellow Tail celebrated its tenth birthday in 2011. “When we created Yellow Tail, we wanted to keep wine fun and simple. We didn’t want to intimidate wine lovers, rather to embrace them and enhance their social lives,”said John Casella, managing director of Casella Wines. His approach was unique, and he launched his Australian wine label in an overseas market before it hit domestic shelves.

John Casella joined with WJ Deutsch, a major wine importer in the USA with the hope of reaching a sales forecast of 25,000 cases in its first year.

Actual sales exceeded one million cases. In just ten years, Casella has become Australia’s largest wine exporter.

Over two million glasses of Yellow Tail are enjoyed around the world every day, which requires production of ten million cases of wine each year. Casella suggests that the key to securing Yellow Tail’s success.

2. Concha y Toro

Volume 2011: 29,700,000 9l cases
Volume 2010: 17,160,000 9l cases
Change 10-11: +73%
Brand owner: Concha y Toro
Head office: Avenida Nueva Tajamar 481 Torre Norte, Piso 5, Santiago, Chile
UK tel: +44 (0)1895 813444
Website: conchaytoro.com
CEO: Eduardo Guilisasti
PR: Cube Communications +44 (0)20 8401 5505
Product range: Trio, Marques de Casa Concha, Terrunyo, Maycas del Limari, Palo Alto, Amelia, Don Melchor, Carmin de Peumo, Gravas del Maipo, Almaviva, Fetzer, Bonterra Organic Vineyards

A major development for the brand was the Fetzer Vineyards acquisition, and the resultant deal represents an income of US$84m and a volume of 1,782,000 cases for the year. Over the course of 2011-12, steps were taken to re-organise the operation under its new ownership, and a new independent structure for marketing and distribution has been established. Concha y Toro launched a new subsidiary for Africa and the Middle East, based in Cape Town, South Africa.

This brings the total of wholly owned sales and distribution subsidiaries to five, with offices in Brazil, Scandinavia, UK and Singapore. Gravas del Maipo Syrah was launched in February 2011 and is a premium Syrah expressing a unique terroir. Winemaker Enrique Tirado, who is also chief winemaker for Don Melchor, Concha y Toro’s iconic Cabernet Sauvignon, is the man behind the development of Gravas del Maipo.

1. Gallo

Volume 2011: 75,000,000 9l cases
Volume 2010: 70,000,000 9l cases
Change 10-11: +7.1%
Brand owner: E&J Gallo Winery
Head office: 600 Yosemite Boulevard Modesto, CA, 95354 USA
UK tel: +44 (0)1895 813444
Website: gallo.com
EU general manager: Bill Roberts
PR: Cube Communications +44 (0)20 8401 5505
Product range: Gallo Family Vineyards, Turning Leaf, Redwood Creek, Barefoot Wine, Coastal Vineyards, Twin Valley, Frei Brothers Reserve, Starborough, Mirassou, Rancho Zabaco, Dancing Bull

2011 was a successful year for E&J Gallo and saw the launch of Gallo Family Vineyards Summer Red in the UK market.

The red was developed with a fruity palate and a lighter, softer, sweeter taste profile.

Best served chilled, the wine was produced to drive new consumers into the wine category and generate renewed excitement around the vineyard’s portfolio. A Merlot Rosé was launched the same year, the third addition to their rosé portfolio, which also includes White Zinfandel and White Grenache. 2012 is another important year for the company with the launch of a Moscato taking centre stage. Moscato supports the growing demand for approachable wines that are lighter in alcohol and sweeter in style.

Four years after its launch in the UK wine market, Barefoot Wine is also now one of the most successful brands in the winery’s portfolio.